Prologue
Prologue Ever since I can remember, I have been living at the White Flag Dojo. '' ''Master Eden, the head of the Dojo, told me that when I was six months old, a man had come and delivered me to the doorstep of the dojo. I had never asked him what the man looked like, because unfortunately, Master Eden had been blind for many decades now. '' ''Despite that, he was still the most extraordinary fighter I had ever witnessed. He is the one who, all by himself, trained me and the other fourteen students of the Dojo, who had also all been taken in as toddlers. We have been living there since, with Master Eden providing food, water, shelter and everything to cater to our needs. '' ''My appreciation of his deeds could never be expressed in words, in this age devoid of happiness and compassion, such selfless acts are completely uncalled for. '' ''To be precise, this world is merely the shadow of what the Earth looked like centuries ago. '' ''300 years ago, a giant cataclysm of an unknown nature occured. All that is known is that continents have been split, billions have perished and that laws and authority no longer exist. '' ''The only exception to the latter statement is the existence of The Empire, an organization found by survivors who wish to establish an authoritative figure in this helpless world. Many territories are now under the jurisdiction of the Empire, which are the sole places in the world where laws exist. The rest of the Earth, including where we live, is referred to by them as "the Wilderness". We are not allowed into the Empire's territories, and those who live there are not allowed there again should they leave the gates, no matter the reason. Hence the existence of two races: us, the beasts, and them, the civilized. '' -- ''At the dojo, I had learned to fight with my fists and kicks. Although Master Eden encouraged us to fight with the weapon of our choice, I prefered training without one in order not to depend on anything outside my body. '' ''The dojo had an armory full of various weapons, from sticks to maces, axes, swords and chains. I chose to only keep a dagger with me for when I go to the nearby forest, which I usually did every evening during the sunset to meditate. '' ''Dante, the last one to arrive seven years ago, preferred fighting with chains. I had seen him jump across a river by swinging them over a tree branch. He was certainly very skilled with them. '' ''In fact, he was the only one in the dojo who had more wins over me. To be precise, one more win over me. ''We had fought 623 times. I won 311, he won 312. '' Everyone in the dojo looked up to both him and I, as they considered us in a league of our own. I did not care about such trifles. Dante neither apparently, as I had never heard him brag about anything, although he was already a man of few words by nature. '' ''That is precisely why I remembered his self-introduction so well, that of seven years ago when he joined the dojo. In the calmest voice, he uttered: "I am Dante. I have come here because my entire family was slain by them. I will train and become strong enough to annihilate the Empire. Although I appreciate the hospitality, I will not let anyone get in my way. I will leave this place if anything forces me to abandon my ambition." ''Although it irritated me for some reason I ignore, I chose not to respond or do anything about the fact that his reason for joining went against the dojo's very purpose. Master Eden was present during the introduction, and he did not say anything. I chose to follow. ''